Improvement in brick-machines



anni didn.

.BNJAMIN M. GARD, on URBA-NA, OHIO, -Ann nMnnY n. GARD, OF CHICAGO,AssIeNORs f'ro UNITED s-TATnsBRICK-MACHINE COMPANY, on CHICAGO,ILLINOIS.

^ Letters Patent No.A 111,629, dated February 7, 1871.

iMPRovEMsNT N BRICK-MACHINES.

.To all whoin it 'may concern.' l Be it known that we, BENJAMIN M. GARD,ofUrbaila, in the county of Champaign and State of Ohio,

andEMERY R..`GAnD,vof Chicago, in the county of (look and State ofj1llinois l 1 ave invented Improvements iu Machines for Molding andPressing Bricks and we do hereby .declarethat the following is a fulland exact'description theieofreference beinghadto the accompanyingdrawing making part of this specilication'- Figure 1 being a sideelevation of a brick-maohine provided with our several improvements.

- Figure 2, a rear elevation of the same.

Figure 3, a central vertical section thereo'in a plane cutting fromfront to rear.

Figure 4, a plan of the machine.

'Figure 5,21. horizontal section of the same, in-a plane indicated -bythe line n: x, figs. 1, 2, and 3.

I Figure65a horizontal section thereof, ina plane indicated by the liney y, figs. 1 and 2 Figure 7, a vertical section of a `part, as indicatedby the linee/@tig 6. I Like letters designate corresponding parts in allof the figures.

The general construction vand operation of the ma chine to which thepresent improvements are applied, as repres'entedin the accompanyingdrawing, are the same as in the brick-machine. for which Letters Patentof thefUnited States were granted to us on the 22d day of February, 1870;V but We do not intend to `restrict the .use of these improvements, sofar as they may be applicable to other brickfmachines, to a machine ofthat construction.

Thus the machine to' which we have applied our improvements, asrepresented inthe drawing, has itsworkng parts, comprising itsmold-wheel H, feedingscrew l, and mixing-arms J J, arranged and securedupon a single driving-shaft, 1),.and-its principal stationary functionalparts, comprising thetub`bottom B,

'trib O, and cam-track E, also4 arranged 'around the same shaft ascompactly as practicable.

' The first-feature of our present improvements lies` in the formationofthe frame-work of themachin'e. The frame proper A consists of sidenprights 'a c; connected by a skeleton of brace-bars, b '11, at thebase,

the whole'being a single casting, of a form suitable for.

supporting. the several parts. of the machine.

As an additional part-of the frame-work 'or support of the machine,-t-he tub-bottomB has lateral anches ."c c .extending outward'and restingon the tops of Ythe side nprights a 'd vof the`-f1ame A, being securedby`set-screws dll soas to beadjustable thereon, tolevel thesaid bottom and-to trim'ittol theother vparte. of

the machine.

. l Also,:npon this tubebottomvthetub C is vinount'cd, one sideor half,f, thereof being rmly bolted orotherwise secured thereto; 'and the saidfixed partis braced at-thetop with' cross-bars g g, -to support thc.npper bearing h of the driving-shaft D of" the machine.

rlhus the frame .proper is lof the simplest,"eheapes t, and mostcoxnpactconstruction, not encumbering' the upper part of the machine; and twofunctional parts of the machine are made to do the additional duty ofsupport to other 'par-ts, effecting thereby further simplicity andeconomy of construction.

'lhev tub .C being th'ns required. to assist inthe sup-l borto'f theoperative parts ofthe machine, provisionl is made for getting access tothe inside,v thereof, for tnypurpOSe, by hinging'the h alt s ide orpart' i, which is not attached to the tub-bottom below, tothe fixed halfor part f at one edge, nsgshown in fig-1', so .that it may swing awayfrom-the said .ixedparlg like a' door. l

.The free edge is fastened to theiixedypartby any suitable means.

This swinging part may have a' brace-bar, j, figs. 3

and 4, extending across from edge to edge,- with'a' curved portion inthe middle, to it partially around the driving-shaft, and lassist. insupporting or'steady ing the said shaft, as rfell as also to prevent theturning ofthe clay in the tub.

It also may'have aflaring mouth or hopper, lato afford ample room forthe introduction.of-the clay or. composition to be molded.

"When the machine is drivenbyanimab power, the same is applied througha'sweep, K, directlyto the` drivingfsha'ft D. If,howev'er, the machineis to'bedriven by `steam o r other stationary power itlsmostconvcnie'ntto communicate the motion. tliroughashaft, G, mounted inone side of the frame, andby! a cog-wheel, l', theref.. on, gearing intoa set ofcogs, -m, on thelperiphery of the mold-wheel I-I.-

For convenience iii-adapting the machine to"`all s`il; nations, it vmaybe .permanently 'p rovidedwi-tl1 vbothvof thesel means of dexjivingitsIncisioni Another important featurefofour invention-consists Ain theimproveddevice for automaticallyremoving the? bricks from the mold-wheel-successivelyfas.tast as' formed and pressed.' f

- The movements for this purpose'are all derivedfroin' the mold-wheel,which, iu this .fu nctio1'1f,performsthe additionalduty ofakdrivigvpulleyor;Wheel.` Thus the lower part of'themoldfwlieeh receivesa driving-belga, -which also passesfaround a pulley,.o, Onatransmitting-shaft, L, mounted in a sitablepositionin the-frame'.. A IOu this .transmitting shaft` is .'another p1- 1lley,. 11,

frolnfwhich belt, q', passes toa pulleyon aborizone tal-shaft, nin' `theouter` end of' the'att-achedfr'ame on which is-mounted the carrien-b'eltOthat comA veys the bricks from the mold-wheel, theinner return of thesaid carrier belt being around a small roller close to the .upper edgeof the periphery of the molduheel. In this'manner the movements forconveying off the bricks from themold-wheel are obtained.

But the essential part of this feature of our invention is the meansemployed for automatically transfen'ing the bricks from the mold-wheelt'o the carrier-fv belt O.

To accomplish this we combine the actions of two motions, one ,of therevolution of the mold-wheel itself, and the lother that of 'a verticalbelt,'P, which has a traverse movement over the mold-wheel in the openspace beneath the raisedlside of the tub' bottom B, in a ldiagonaldirection, or oblique, between a radial and a tangential direction Itpasses round a pulley, s,'on the transmittingshaft L, from which itderives its motion, and atits yinner'turnaround a fiietionfpulley, hungbeneath `the tub bottom.` v

In its outward 'traverse the belt passes alongside of a stationary plateor board, t, which prevents its yieldinglaterally, as the bricks"arepressed against it.

Themolds Q Q of the mold-wheel haveltwo peculiarities forthe purpose inview rst, they are located diagonally or obliquely both to radialand.tangential directions of the moldwheel, as shown clearly in fig; 5, theforward ends thereof', iu respect to the'motion of the mold-Wheel, beingnearest to the periphery of the same, so .that as the molds are broughtround under the traverse belt Pthe,bricks, then raised `from the molds,but lying directly over them, will come laterally in contact and-nearlyparallel wit-h thebelt; second, the molds are arranged to form thebricks vertically edgewise therein, that is, with the thin sides oredges up and down, sol that as they'are; raised out ofi-the molds'andare brought around against the traverse belt P, their-,broad sideswillcome in contact therewith and afford more frictional surfacethereby;Av

orthey may come out flatw-ise.A

'lhe result'of the combinedv motions of the moldwheel and traverse belt,withzthis arrangement ofv parts, is to slide 'the bricks as Vthey arebrought successively to the belt, eudwise outward, as .indicated bydotted lilies inig. 5,A upon the carrier-belt O, which is located inline with the 'bricks as they are thus moved', and iiush with the uppersurface of the mold-wheel.

The bricks thus conveyed iu .an edgewise'position bn the carrier-belt,are also more readily seized and lifted from ythe belt by theattendants.-

The formation of rrthe bricks in vertically-edgewise molds QQ', also hasanvadvantage irrespective of` the y purpose of conveying the bricksautomatically from the machine; for, by this formal-ion, the thicknessof the bricks is always' uniform, which is always of the mostimportance, while the width only is subject to variationpin pressingthem in the molds, a mat-ter oi' less consequence.'

Ilhe cam-track E, on which the mold-followers travel, has one or tworemovable sections u u, resting in recesses, or between anges c fu, ofthe track, in the ,portion where the pressure is given to the moldedlbricks under the striking and pressingplate R, so as to be replaceablevwhenworn too much; and under one or each of these removable portions isan adjusting screw, w, arranged as shown iu iig. 7, or in an equivalentmanner7 for adjusting the height thereof, to compensate for the wear'ci' the track, and to adj ust the amount ofcompressiomor the thicknessor width of the bricks, as desired. Only one end of the track sectionneed be thus adjustable; v 4

Itbeiug necessary either to adj ust the tub-bottom B to the-inold-wheelH,'or the moldwheel to the tubbottem, in order th'at'the former may turnclosely by the lower surface of the latter, we eli'ect this purpose Vbyadjusting the height of the driving-shaft D, on

which theP mold-wheel is accurately secured.` v

lo accomplish this adjustment a screw, e, is set inA thebotto'm of thelower bearing S of the shaft, asv shownin fig. 3, thc shaft resting onthe screw or upon an intermediate step or block.

Vhat we claim as our invention, Vand desire to sc cnre by Letterslatent, is

1. The combination of the frameA,.composed of Vthe uprights a n, andconnecting braces b b, with the vvbricks from the mold-wheel,substantially as herein specified. .l 1 BENJAMIN M. GARD.

EMER-Y R. GARD.

" `Witnesses to l'M. GAR'ns signature:

G. O. RAwLINs, J. R. Mownn. fitnesses to E. R. GARDS signature:l

G. L. HooDLnss, DANI.. L. RnnNn.

